Senate opens confirmation hearing on John Kerry as secretary of state

Source: Washington Post

Sen. John F. Kerry, testifying before a Senate committee on his nomination to become secretary of state, said U.S. foreign policy is defined by much more than military intervention abroad and the fight against terrorism, and he called for consensus on promoting American leadership on matters ranging from food security to climate change.

Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which opened a confirmation hearing on President Obama’s nomination of Kerry to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as America’s top diplomat, the senator from Massachusetts also voiced resolve to prevent Iran from pursuing a suspected goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon.

And he stressed that “more than ever, foreign policy is economic policy.”

Answering questions later in the hearing, Kerry pursued that theme, saying it is in America’s interests to continue foreign aid programs despite pressure to reduce spending. “We cannot — we cannot — reduce the funding for some of these initiatives that we are engaged in without great cost to our ability to be able to help American business, help create jobs and help strengthen our security in the world,” he said.

4. He obviously has to recuse himself as he has a personal interest

5. I figured he would have to recuse himself,

but I was wondering if there was some Senate rule that already determined that he couldn't vote. Recusing yourself is voluntary, and I was curious if some asshole (probably repuke) in the past refused to do so in the face of a close vote and they had to make a special rule for this.